Maggie Stiefvater Signing Report

Today, I went to see Maggie Stiefvater at BookPeople. Other bloggers in attendance, based on bookmarks or business cards I received, include the ladies of Girls in the Stacks, Mystical Lit Lounge, Windowpane Memoirs, and Project 52.

Maggie started off with a few anecdotes about the most common questions she receives about LINGER: "Did you do any research, like reading werewolf books?" and "Why werewolves?"

She said that she did quite a bit of medical research as well as research on dead German poets (for Sam's point of view), but didn't read any werewolf books. After all, she knew what werewolves were. Long anecdote short, she chose werewolves because of childhood phobias and Teen Wolf.

Then came a short reading, of Cole's first narration. Maggie wrote an earlier scene first and didn't like Cole's personality and had plans to cut him from the book. Then she wrote the first chronological Cole scene and couldn't abandon him. Answering a later question, she admitted to having trouble with Cole's snark as well as Isabel's tendency to not say what she means.

During the Q&A, Maggie was canny about some of her answers - she wouldn't discuss happy endings or hook-ups. The secret novel comes out in Spring 2012 and contains both beaches and kissing. She's seen the cover of FOREVER, but won't reveal the color yet. (I'm hoping for yellow with goldenrod text.)

Other questions she elaborated more, sometimes with her trademarked anecdotes. Kraken are the New Vampires goes viral more than anything else, although apparently the story of her hearing about being #1 on the NYT Bestseller list is being oft repeated, with embellishments in the case of the Hungarians. Also, there is a third Book of Faerie, titled REQUIEM, and is told through the point of view of an already introduced character and finishes Dee's story. It got pushed to the back of the line and may get pushed back again. SHIVER has been optioned; the screenplay is written (not by Maggie) and is currently undergoing rewrites. Maggie has a small consultation role, but no real power over the movie.

Then came the signing! There were lots of people at the event, but the line moved quickly.  I was toward the front of the middle and this photo was taken after I got my books signed.

When I told Maggie who I was, she drew an adorable Thorn King in my copy of BALLAD. Look at his billowing cloak! It was a very fun event. Maggie's even funnier in person than she is on her blog. Tomorrow I'll post my review of LINGER.

Rachelle Knight Recommends . . .

Rachelle Rogers Knight is the author of bibliobabe.com as well as READ, REMEMBER, RECOMMEND and the recently released READ, REMEMBER, RECOMMEND FOR TEENS. Rachelle is hosting a contest for each of her Traveling to Teens stops. Be sure to check out her page for In Bed With Books - the contest ends 5/12. In addition, be sure to stop by later today for my review of the journal.

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The theme of the READ, REMEMBER, RECOMMEND FOR TEENS Traveling to Teens Tour is "Great Summer Reading". For each of my guest posts on the tour, the blog host and I will both recommend a book we feel would be worthy of some sunny weather, summer reading.



Have you been missing tales of furry, cuddly wolves - who might also make great boyfriends? If so, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver series is the ticket to some exciting summer reading, without the worries of a pesky vampire to spoil the fun.

Grace is a cute, smart, slightly introverted seventeen year old girl in chilly Minnesota. She is completely normal, except for her obsession with the wolves that live in the Boundary Woods behind her house. When she was six, she was pulled from a tire swing by these same wolves and bitten. A horrible death was barely avoided by an aggressive male wolf - with beautiful eyes. Since that time, Grace watches for 'her' wolf, taking pictures, leaving scrapes of food, and watching for any news concerning the welfare of the pack.

When another teen turns up missing (and ultimately dead), Grace's hometown reacts by hunting the wolves. When a wolf is shot, Grace's questions about her wolf are answered. In that moment, Grace not only gets a new cute boyfriend, but that boyfriend is the human form of ‘her’ wolf. What happens next is an exciting romance, filled with suspense, longing and fear.



Sound like the 'stuff' of a good summer read? Good news! SHIVER continues with the July 20th release of LINGER, the next in the story of Grace and Sam - a werewolf love affair to remember.

Accolades for SHIVER:

• Indies Choice Book Award Finalist
• ALA Best Books for Young Adults
• ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
• Amazon Top Ten Books for Teens
• Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2009
• Border's Original Voices Pick & Finalist
• Barnes & Noble 2009 Top Twenty Books for Teens
• CBC Children's Choice Awards Finalist
• SIBA 2010 Book Award Finalist
• Junior Library Guild Selection (Shiver and Linger)
• Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Nominee
• Glamour's Best Book to Curl Up With

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Now for my part!



Since Rachelle recommended SHIVER and LINGER, I have to recommend Maggie Stiefvater's LAMENT and BALLAD. Both are available for paperback, which makes them more affordable and more transportable than SHIVER, for those who want their summer read on the go.

Stiefvater's modern faerie tales will particularly appeal to music lovers. And for those who are tired of weak-willed paranormal romance heroine's, BALLAD's Nuala will be a welcome relief. I know it's sometimes harder to find Flux books in a brick and mortar store, but these two are usually in stock due to SHIVER's success.

Review: Ballad

By Maggie Stiefvater
Coming Oct 1st from Flux



A little less than a year ago, I received an e-mail promising me homicidal faeries. I, being the sort too dumb to know when a deal is too good to be true, said yes. In return for the novel, I became a fan of the affable and clever Maggie Stiefvater. And now that I've read BALLAD her insidious claim is stronger than ever. I'm waiting for the paperback of SHIVER, but maybe I shouldn't. I might owe her my collection of shamrock memorabilia.

When BALLAD opens, James is still recovering from the events of LAMENT. He almost died and the only person who knows why he almost died can't help him recover since she's pretty much shattered by the events too. Along comes Nuala, attracted by James's talent with the bagpipes. Of course, she might be attracted to the piper himself as well. Of course, that might not be his only problem, since the faeries aren't overly found of Deirdre. Of course, James is too neurotic to really process any of this.

Maggie Stiefvater knows how to string together a sentence. She knows how to haunt you with a motif. She knows how to write music so that you hear it in your heart. She knows how to create a unique narrative voice, so that you don't need the name before the chapter or the epigraph to know whether James or Nuala is speaking. (Or to separate them from Deirdre's voice in LAMENT.) She knows how to rip your heart out of your chest without resorting to tearjearker tactics. All it takes are Dee's unsent text messages, full of everything she needs to say to James but can't. (And she would be the absolute bitch Nuala thinks she is if we didn't have those messages to tell us what she's repressing.)

If Blogger eats this review like it did my first review of LAMENT, I'll cry. I don't want to think about this too much, I just want to pour it out. That's what reading BALLAD was like: an experience that swept me away into James and Nuala's world of music and love and pain and desperate hope. Also, the book is funny. James and Nuala are both sarcastic and quick-witted. Many of the side characters hold their own. I love the side characters, especially Paul. They sneak up on you, going, "Hey, I've been here this whole time. Being awesome. Now that you know it, I'm going to level up in awesome just to blow your mind." They're like Stiefvater herself in that way.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go hug my book. And cry over the fact I don't have time to re-read it or LAMENT.

Now, both B&N and Amazon are showing BALLAD as In Stock despite the fact the release date is Oct 1st. So go ahead and click on the cover and buy yourself a copy. You won't regret it . . . except for the fact you'll be a slave to Stiefvater's brilliance.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: Ballad

Ya'll probably already knew I wanted to read BALLAD, based on my review of LAMENT and my intro to her guest blog. But it's almost here (October 1), and it bears repeating, especially since cool prizes are up for grabs.



Blurb from Amazon:

Remember us, so sing the dead, lest we remember you

James Morgan has an almost unearthly gift for music. And it has attracted Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and then feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. James has plenty of reasons to fear the faeries, but as he and Nuala collaborate on an achingly beautiful musical composition, James finds his feelings towards Nuala deepening. But the rest of the fairies are not as harmless. As Halloween—the day of the dead—draws near, James will have to battle the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nuala's life and his soul.

Teaser:

He turned towards me. For a long moment, he stood facing me. I was held, anchored to the ground – not by his music, which still called and pushed against the music already in my head and said grow rise follow – but by his strangeness. By his fingers, spread over the ground, holding something into the earth, by his shoulders, squared in a way that spoke of strength and unknowability, and most of all, by the great, thorny antlers that grew from his head, spanning the sky like branches.

Then he was gone, and I missed his going in the instant that the sun fell off the edge of the hill, abandoning the world to twilight.